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apollo11 · Apr 11, 2009, 10:03 AM

Gave my son an White Intel MacBook two and a half years ago with Applecare from AppleStore Manchester

During that time it has been back fifteen times for repairs. Motherboards ,screen flicker, case cracks, optical output stuck on, HDD failure, hinge loosening, powerbrick cable overheating. Apple have been fair in assessment and repairs, my son has been polite and patient.

Last week Applestore Manchester said ENOUGH! You are going get a replacement MacBook.

Wow! thanks, a nice new White MacBook.

Applestore Manchester said NO! You're getting a new MacBook a new Unibody!

After we picked ourselves off the floor we left the store in a daze.

Applestore Manchester called yesterday and we went to collect it.

Dave, Genius at Applestore Manchester, walked us through the new features and Leopard.

I have not seen such generosity from any company before.

The household is Apple based and has been since Apple II.

This is a good reason to buy Apple and Applecare.

Other companies are less than generous and work hard to resist helping me. Dell took 9 months to replace a remote control for a £700 monitor.

Thank you Apple.

We will always be loyal to you.

The Sahal Family UK

Wiskedjak · Apr 11, 2009, 10:11 AM

after 15 times in the shop, I'd be getting a new Dell.

angelmb · Apr 11, 2009, 11:10 AM

Congrats, your loyalty deserved that. BTW, a friend of me had a similar experience with Apple Germany.

mduell · Apr 11, 2009, 12:10 PM

Fifteen trips to the store for repairs? Yow, given the opportunity cost you're massively underwater.

Hg2491 · Apr 11, 2009, 12:14 PM

Apparently from 1-10 times you get a white MacBook (like happened to me), 11-20 a unibody MacBook. Following the trend, if you take it in 21+ you'll get a MacBook Pro.

Cold Warrior · Apr 11, 2009, 12:21 PM

You put up with that lemon for too long. After 3-4 repairs like that I would have said, No, it's a lemon, give me a new one.

Andrew Stephens · Apr 11, 2009, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by Hg2491

Apparently from 1-10 times you get a white MacBook (like happened to me), 11-20 a unibody MacBook. Following the trend, if you take it in 21+ you'll get a MacBook Pro.

Incorrect. Apples policy is three major hardware faults and they will replace the Mac (if you ask). They always replace with the current version of what you have, hence the replacement of what "was" the standard MacBook with the new model.

I've had a PowerBook G4 replaced with a MacBook Pro because the model changed after I had two dvd drive failures and a logic board let go.

I'd say that with 10 failures you've been letting Apple off pretty lightly. Next itme complain louder and faster.

imitchellg5 · Apr 11, 2009, 12:49 PM

It's always heartening to hear about good customer service. Although I've only took my MBP in once and they offered to replace it.

apollo11 · Apr 11, 2009, 02:07 PM

About complaining? Remember we're English , nuff said.

B Gallagher · Apr 11, 2009, 03:39 PM

Three *major* faults? Where is the line drawn? I've already had the iSight chasis die and need replacing, the LED display replaced because it had scratches on it, and the logic board replace (not sure if this was as a result of the NVidia 8600 issue, but it fixed this at the same time). Plus, I think my optical drive might be playing up.

Cold Warrior · Apr 11, 2009, 03:42 PM

IMO a major fault is anything that can't be fixed on the spot. RAM and HDD are immediate swaps. Anything that gets sent back to Apple is 'major' IMHO.

But I don't know what Apple classifies that as.

Nergol · Apr 13, 2009, 04:11 AM

Actually, I suspect the Apple store in Manchester really said: "Enuff! Yaaw gettin' a rePLAYcemint MacBewk!"

It is Manchester, after all.

gregburkman · Apr 16, 2009, 05:07 AM

15 times? Masochist.

angelmb · Apr 16, 2009, 08:43 AM

Hey, maybe the son loved it so much !!!

And besides that, had he-she asked for a replacement before, he-she wouldn't have got the newest, cutest, Unibody MacBook. He-She is clearly a winner here.

chipchen · Apr 19, 2009, 04:12 AM

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens

Incorrect. Apples policy is three major hardware faults and they will replace the Mac (if you ask). They always replace with the current version of what you have, hence the replacement of what "was" the standard MacBook with the new model.

I've had a PowerBook G4 replaced with a MacBook Pro because the model changed after I had two dvd drive failures and a logic board let go.

I'd say that with 10 failures you've been letting Apple off pretty lightly. Next itme complain louder and faster.

Actually... this is still a bit skewed. There is no official policy on replacements. It's taken on a case by case basis. However, for that case to even be considered seriously... the guideline is that you must have at least a few major repairs. AND... in general, these need to be the same part/problem... or progressively getting worse. I stress however, that these are guidelines... nothing is set in stone.

Here are several things that are taken into account:
- Number of repairs
- Repair types (major, minor)
- Span of repair times (generally within a year)
- Progression of repair (getting worse, or better)
- Warranty status (obviously must be under warranty or AppleCare, very very very very very rarely outside)

And these things matter... a lot:
- Technician/rep you get (manager generally backs what the tech wants to do)
- Manager you get (manager generally needs to sign off)
- Your situation (business critical, student, spare machine, etc)
- Your attitude (niceness goes a long way... so does being assertive, but not as much as niceness)
- Attitude of tech or manager... (honestly... you get someone in a bad mood that doesn't like you... that's just your luck of the draw)
- Store or phone rep
- Which store (some stores are more lenient or easy on the guidelines than others)

Here's what determines your replacement:
- You're supposed to get the same system, or latest equivalent
- You're generally never supposed to be downgraded (specs should be equal or greater)
- You can use the value of the equivalent to upgrade or switch product families
- Your factory configuration matters (if you ordered with 4GB RAM, your replacement should have the same or greater)
- In general, third party upgrades do not matter

TonTaub · Nov 30, 2009, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens

I've had a PowerBook G4 replaced with a MacBook Pro because the model changed after I had two dvd drive failures and a logic board let go.

similar thing here: about two years ago - Power Book G4 1.5 with memory slot failure.
The returned PoBo didn't quite work (graphics controller problems).
With the third attempt I got a MBP 2GHz in similar configuration (as far as possible).
I liked that but it took me a while to accept that I'll go Intel and some stuff won't run anymore.
On the bottom line it was good and all happened within about a week.
Michael. (BTW, Dells do break as well - as others do)

Simon · Nov 30, 2009, 10:32 AM

I had a 12" PB in for repair with Apple a few years ago because its disk had died after 10 months. It came back from repair with a big fat scratch on the case. I sent it in again pretty angry, but I tried to remain friendly with the people at Apple. I was expecting they'd swap the case and hoped I might get a gift certificate or something to make up for the hassle.

This time they managed to damage the case some more and hence kept it around for over a week. After talking to them and telling them how unhappy I was with the service I was receiving I was able to talk to the manager in charge of repairs. He agreed this was a very bad user experience and promised he would fix it. Two days later I had a brand new 12" PB on my desk with the RAM upgraded to the same level I had done myself on the old 12".

The whole thing was of course not a nice experience, but Apple solved it in a very generous way. And they demonstrated that they valued customer satisfaction and that they took my unhappiness seriously.

Eug · Nov 30, 2009, 03:47 PM

Applestore Manchester said NO! You're getting a new MacBook a new Unibody!

They probably just got tired of fixing that POS.

P.S. I take it you have no use for Firewire.

imitchellg5 · Nov 30, 2009, 04:40 PM

Zombie thread FTW.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 7, 2009, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by angelmb

Hey, maybe the son loved it so much !!!

And besides that, had he-she asked for a replacement before, he-she wouldn't have got the newest, cutest, Unibody MacBook. He-She is clearly a winner here.

He-She? I think you're on the wrong forum mate.

To stay on topic, had my 1st gen. iPhone replaced 5 times due to various bugs and BT keyboard once. Both were out of warranty (well iPhone on the 3rd time). No questions asked.